


Cat Person, Dog Person

by davecabbage



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Chuck is an actual child sometimes, Domestic Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-28
Updated: 2014-09-28
Packaged: 2018-02-19 03:18:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2372576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/davecabbage/pseuds/davecabbage
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raleigh brings home a stray. Chuck is not happy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cat Person, Dog Person

**Author's Note:**

> I've been ill the last few days and feeling pretty crappy so I wrote this to cheer myself up.

“Oi, I’m home.” Chuck called as he kicked the door closed behind him; a habit of his Raleigh had complained about constantly because of all the marks and dents he left on the doors. Not that it ever stopped him. Besides, his hands were full of grocery bags. What did he expect him to do?

Max bounded towards him as usual to greet him, but his tail barely wagged and he whined at Chuck as he pawed at his legs.

Chuck frowned. “What’s crawled up your butt, boy?”

Max just whined again in response.

Chuck moved into the kitchen and dumped the bags down on the counter. He frowned at the silence that filled the house; Raleigh should have been back from his run by now. And he would have called to say if he was heading out anywhere today.

“You in? I got some-”

Chuck stopped dead at the sight that greeted him when he entered the living room. Raleigh was sprawled out on the couch and running his fingers through the soft black hair of the form resting on his chest.

“Oh, hey.” Raleigh looked up at him and flashed him a lazy smile. “Sorry, I kinda got distracted as you can see.”

“What. The. Fuck. Is that?” Chuck stared at the intruder that had gotten so cosy with his boyfriend. Two large round eyes stared back up at him.

“It’s called a cat, Chuck.”

“I can see that. What the hell is it doing in our house?”

Max had waddled into the room after Chuck and plopped himself on the ground next to his human with a huff; even he seemed offended by the invader.

Raleigh made no move to get up thanks to the ball of fluff sitting on his chest. “I found her in a box behind some trash cans out on my run. I only stopped to pet her for a little while but I guess she followed me home.”

He scratched the cat behind the ear and it purred contentedly.

“So you just brought a stray into our home?” Chuck folded his arms. “Without asking me.”

Raleigh rolled his eyes. “It’s just a cat, not a life altering decision. I didn’t think I needed your permission.”

“It ain’t staying here.”

“Why not?”

“Because.”

“Have a heart, Chuck.”

“I have allergies.”

“No you don’t.”

“It’s probably got diseases.”

“I’ll get her checked out at the vet tomorrow.”

“Max doesn’t like cats.”

“He seems just fine.”

Raleigh sat up and pulled the cat into his lap. “Come here, Max.”

Max’s tail wagged at the sound of his name and he waddled over to him. Raleigh held the cat out to him and the pair of them sniffed at each other. Max licked the cat’s face and his tail thumped against the floor.

“Good boy.” Raleigh cooed down at the dog. “See? They like each other just fine.”

Chuck narrowed his eyes at Max. Fucking traitor. He had just lost his treat privileges

Raleigh took the cat to the vet the following day as promised and while he never said it aloud, Chuck had held onto the hope that there would be something wrong with it which meant that it had to stay there or be carted off to an animal shelter. But not only did Raleigh return with the cat, he’d also stopped for supplies for it on the way back too, and now it looked like the damned thing was there to stay.

And sure enough, the cat stayed. Despite his protests the little bastard had somehow managed to sink its claws into Raleigh and Max both, but its feline charms wouldn’t work on Chuck. Not one bit.

Chuck had taken to calling the cat Garbage despite the tags that Raleigh had gotten for its collar to inform everyone of its real name. It seemed appropriate to him considering that’s where Raleigh had found the flea bag in the first place. He was careful to not to call it that out loud in Raleigh’s presence; he knew he’d only kick up a fuss about it. But it was only a matter of time before he slipped up and got caught.

“Oi, Garbage. Grub’s up.” He had filled its bowl and nudged it along the floor towards the yowling cat.

“Did you just call the cat garbage?”

Chuck spun around, not having heard Raleigh’s approach, and looked sheepish. “No?”

“Oh my God, you’ve been calling her that this whole time, haven’t you?”

Busted.

“Not the _whole_ time.”

“ _Chuck_.”

He got an earful for that transgression and all hopes of getting laid that night had diminished. That didn’t stop Chuck from referring to the little trash monster with its proper title though.

Garbage left hairs everywhere. Raleigh had pointed out that Max wasn’t innocent of leaving hairs behind either, but at least Max’s fur wasn’t long and he didn’t climb into the underwear drawer and shed all over his damn boxers.

Garbage was loud. Sure Max could be loud when he barked at the squirrels in the back yard but the damned cat whined and yowled constantly until its food bowl was filled. The high pitched whine grated on Chuck’s nerves and he wanted nothing more than to punt the little shit right out the window.

Garbage scratched up the furniture. Okay, so Max had chewed a pair of Raleigh’s boots to pieces on one occasion but that had been trained out of him, and he really shouldn’t have left them laying around within Max’s reach in the first place. The cat on the other hand, sunk its claws into everything and despite Raleigh wasting more of their money on a scratch post, the little fucker never once used it.

Above all, Garbage was so whiney and needy. Raleigh, Chuck and Max had had a good thing going and the cat messed it all up. Evenings in were spent on the couch with Chuck resting against Raleigh’s chest with his arms wrapped around him or his fingers running through his hair while Max curled up beside them and Chuck scratched him behind the ears. It was warm and comfortable and good. And then the furry little arsehole wormed its way in and screwed up their dynamic.

It slunk into the room and mewed up at Raleigh until he shifted and allowed it to jump up into his lap. Chuck was forced to sit beside Raleigh and press into his side; it was still comfortable but it wasn’t the same. From there Raleigh’s attentions turned to the cat and Chuck was left neglected.

Chuck’s already low levels of subtly must have wavered completely after one evening too many of these disruptions because Raleigh finally said something as Chuck huffed when he removed his hands from his hair and started stroking the cat.

“Is something wrong?”

“What? Why do you ask?”

“You’ve done nothing but huff and look like someone’s pissed on the carpet all night.”

Chuck’s eyebrows raised; maybe his speaking habits were rubbing off on Raleigh a little too much these days. “I’m fine.”

Raleigh sat up straighter and the cat mewed in protest at being disturbed on his lap. Chuck rolled his eyes and shot a dirty look down at it.

“You _are_ in a mood. It’s the cat, isn’t it? Shit, Chuck, does she bother you that much?”

“I’m not– I just…” Chuck exhaled. “It’s just messed everything up.”

Raleigh gave him a puzzled look. “Are you…? Are you jealous of the cat?”

“What? No. Don’t be ridiculous. The fuck would I be jealous of a cat for?” Chuck sighed and mumbled out the next part. “You give that thing more attention than me.”

“What?” Raleigh laughed and Chuck wanted to punch him. “How is it any different to all the attention you lavish on Max?”

“It’s completely different!” Grumbled Chuck. “He was here first and…and…It just is!”

“You are such a child sometimes.” Raleigh’s voice was soft and even Chuck couldn’t miss the affectionate tone in his voice. He leaned over and kissed Chuck on the cheek. “Is it so bad that I want my own pet?”

“You’ve got Max too.” Chuck protested.

“I know. Don’t get me wrong I love Max, even when he farts in the bed.” Raleigh said. Max wagged his tail at the sound of his name, unaware of the crimes he was guilty of. “But he will always be your dog.”

“And there’s nothing wrong with that.” Raleigh added at Chuck’s frown. “But I’ve never really had a pet of my own before. We moved around a lot when I was a kid so we could never really keep one. And even then it would have been shared between the three of us.”

Chuck was beginning to feel like even more of an arsehole as Raleigh continued.

“I look at what you and Max have and it’s really nice. I just wanted that for myself.” Raleigh gave him a warm smile and chuckled softly. “And I’ve always been more of a cat person.”

Chuck shot him a look of mock disgust. “I don’t know you at all anymore.”

Raleigh swatted him playfully on the arm. “Now, are you gonna be less of an asshole to my cat?”

He rolled his eyes. “I’ll think about it.”

Raleigh leaned forward and placed a hand on the back of his neck and pulled him into a long and slow kiss. “How about if I pay extra special attention to you tonight?”

Chuck couldn’t keep the smirk of his face. “I think I could be persuaded.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, Garbage is totally shamelessly stolen from The Office~


End file.
